
Builder Last Online: May 2019


Model Scale: 1/8
Rating:
Thanks: 1

Started: 10-08-06
Build Revisions: Never

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver soldering I'll start with the very basics
First of all You will need : (High temprature)1.6mm dia acid cored silver solder
( Comweld 965 or similar soldering flux )
( small Rekrow or similar butane soldering torch)
If you have a small 6volt type electric curcuit type soldering gun turf it cause their as good as useless for the type of thing we do.
( 1.5 mm brass sheet cut into thin 5mm straps)
Ok if I havent put you all off already start by cleaning the very tips of only one side of 2 straps of brass using some steelwool or very fine abrasive paper after doing that use some thinners and a very clean cloth to wipe the surfaces you just roughed up .
Lay both the cleaned surfaces onto each other checking that there is no gap in between if there is sand
the surface again until you have it looking right.
2 things to remember to get a good bond and allow the solder to flow freely is to have a very clean surface and no gaps if at all possible.
Ok once you are happy things are clean hold the 2 surfaces together using the smallest possible clamp you can find do not cover the entire surface with the clamp as this will draw the heat away from the surface you want soldered.
use a very small and clean paint brush to dip into the flux bottle and lightly brush the surface joins where the solder must flow,you don't need alot of flux on the surface just put it where the solder needs to flow .
heat the surface using a fairly aggressive heat but only heat the surface until a very faint cheery red appears take the heat away and touch the surface join with the end of the solder,do not keep the heat on the join the same time you are adding the solder as the metal will be hot
enough to draw the melted solder to the join .
Ok if this isn't working for you don't dispair keep practicing as silver soldering is an art form on it's own you will eventually get the hang of it.
Modelmaker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the toughest things in the micro world to get over. If I can shed some light on the subject from my past, we used to solder bridges and metal denture frameworks all the time and our biggest problem was not melting the work or the other joints before the solder kicked. There were several ways to do this most of which Don has alluded to already. The best solution we foun was to solder the first parts with a higher melting temperature solder and the subsequent joints with a lower fusing solder. The next thing was the heating technique. If you're using a torch, it becomes more dicey than if you're using an iron. For more critical areas I would use the iron and leave the torch to the larger areas. Second, you can create heat sinks to pull the heat in a particular direction away form the already soldered joints. I usually clamped a cool set of tweezers where I want to pull the heat and that keeps the area a bit cooler. Make sure your flux is good and the joint is really clean. Any carbon, graphite, sanding
debris, finger oils, paint, glue or whatever will inhibit the flow of the solder and cause you to overheat the work. I hope this helps somewhat. Believe me, when you've taken a bridge you made that doesn't fit, cut it and refit the thing perfectly and then watched the whole thing melt as your dental school instructor comes around with the grade book, you learn to solder well. I speak from experience.
HFC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) use the blue part of the flame from the burner,
(2) make sure there is no air space between the join even if you have to keep filing away the metal , use fine grade sand
paper to clean the edge of the joins clean the surface with thinners
(3) get yourself a good quality flux Comweld 965 is the best look for this from the welding supplier it is imperative the surface is fluxed (pickled) before adding solder the solder will not flow if this process is not followed.
Modelmaker
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silver soldering I'll start with the very basics
First of all You will need : (High temprature)1.6mm dia acid cored silver solder
( Comweld 965 or similar soldering flux )
( small Rekrow or similar butane soldering torch)
If you have a small 6volt type electric curcuit type soldering gun turf it cause their as good as useless for the type of thing we do.
( 1.5 mm brass sheet cut into thin 5mm straps)
Ok if I havent put you all off already start by cleaning the very tips of only one side of 2 straps of brass using some steelwool or very fine abrasive paper after doing that use some thinners and a very clean cloth to wipe the surfaces you just roughed up .
Lay both the cleaned surfaces onto each other checking that there is no gap in between if there is sand

2 things to remember to get a good bond and allow the solder to flow freely is to have a very clean surface and no gaps if at all possible.
Ok once you are happy things are clean hold the 2 surfaces together using the smallest possible clamp you can find do not cover the entire surface with the clamp as this will draw the heat away from the surface you want soldered.
use a very small and clean paint brush to dip into the flux bottle and lightly brush the surface joins where the solder must flow,you don't need alot of flux on the surface just put it where the solder needs to flow .
heat the surface using a fairly aggressive heat but only heat the surface until a very faint cheery red appears take the heat away and touch the surface join with the end of the solder,do not keep the heat on the join the same time you are adding the solder as the metal will be hot

Ok if this isn't working for you don't dispair keep practicing as silver soldering is an art form on it's own you will eventually get the hang of it.
Modelmaker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the toughest things in the micro world to get over. If I can shed some light on the subject from my past, we used to solder bridges and metal denture frameworks all the time and our biggest problem was not melting the work or the other joints before the solder kicked. There were several ways to do this most of which Don has alluded to already. The best solution we foun was to solder the first parts with a higher melting temperature solder and the subsequent joints with a lower fusing solder. The next thing was the heating technique. If you're using a torch, it becomes more dicey than if you're using an iron. For more critical areas I would use the iron and leave the torch to the larger areas. Second, you can create heat sinks to pull the heat in a particular direction away form the already soldered joints. I usually clamped a cool set of tweezers where I want to pull the heat and that keeps the area a bit cooler. Make sure your flux is good and the joint is really clean. Any carbon, graphite, sanding

HFC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) use the blue part of the flame from the burner,
(2) make sure there is no air space between the join even if you have to keep filing away the metal , use fine grade sand

(3) get yourself a good quality flux Comweld 965 is the best look for this from the welding supplier it is imperative the surface is fluxed (pickled) before adding solder the solder will not flow if this process is not followed.
Modelmaker
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Show Complete First Post
Show Your Support
- This build may not be copied, reproduced or published elsewhere without author's permission.Please note: The first post will be displayed at the top of every page.
Bookmarks